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Home » RAW: Lee Vining High School ranked 64th in state based on Challenger Index

RAW: Lee Vining High School ranked 64th in state based on Challenger Index

Lee Vining High School has made the Washington Post’s High School Challenge Index for the second time this year.

The small rural school in the Eastern Sierra Unified School District, which covers all the schools in Mono County north of Mammoth Lakes, was ranked 558th in the nation out of approximately 22,000 high schools placing it in the top three percent of all high schools, according to school officials.

It placed 64th of the over 1,800 high schools in California. This is also an improvement upon the high school’s rank last year, when it was ranked 723rd in the U.S. and 91st in California.

The Challenge index, created in 1998 by Washington Post columnist Jay Matthews, is the simple calculation of Advanced Placement tests given at a school last year divided by the number of graduates.

With a few exceptions, public schools that achieved a ratio of at least 1.000, meaning they had as many tests in 2012 as they had graduates, were put on the national list at washingtonpost.com/highschoolchallenge.

In 2012, Lee Vining students took 27 AP exams and graduated just 10 seniors for an average of 2.7 tests each.

The faculty and parents at Lee Vining have done an excellent job pushing average students to challenge themselves with more difficult coursework that will better prepare them for college, according to Lee Vining High School Principal Roger Yost.

Advanced Placement classes are designed to be an equivalent to an introductory college course. The courses, which need to be approved by the College Board, ask the students to master more material with more depth than most regular high school classes.

In early May, students take AP exams and if they do well, their high school coursework will be given college credit at most universities in the United States.